A judge overstepped by giving a life prison sentence to a man whose girlfriend cut the baby from the womb of an unsuspecting neighbor, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, ordering that the man be resentenced.
William Hoehn, of Fargo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the August 2017 attack on Savanna Greywind, who died of her injuries but whose baby survived. He entered the plea before a jury acquitted him of conspiracy to commit murder.
Hoehn's girlfriend, Brooke Crews, admitted that she sliced Greywind's baby from her womb. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Hoehn had faced a maximum of 21 years behind bars for the kidnapping charge, but Judge Tom Olson granted prosecutors' request to label Hoehn a dangerous offender, enhancing his maximum sentence to life with the possibility of parole.
The state Supreme Court, though, ruled that Hoehn shouldn't have received that designation and ordered that he be resentenced.
Kiara Kraus-Parr, who argued the appeal for Hoehn, called it a "pretty clear-cut case" and said she had been "cautiously optimistic" that her client would prevail.
"I think the state overreached in what they charged, as far the special dangerous offender," she told The Associated Press
Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick said he hadn't read the opinion yet but that his office would likely comment about it once it gone through it.
The justices said that for Hoehn to qualify as a dangerous offender, his 2012 conviction for abuse or neglect of a child would have to be similar to the conspiracy to commit kidnapping charge. A comparison of the elements of the crime did not support the finding that the two offenses were comparable, the court found.
A new sentencing date should be set in two weeks, depending on whether prosecutors file for a rehearing.
Greywind was a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe and her family has ties to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, two North Dakota groups that traveled to the Fargo area to search for Greywind after the attack. Her death prompted former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to introduce Savanna's Act, which aims to improve tribal access to federal crime information databases and create standardized protocols for responding to cases of missing and murdered Native American women. Protesters gathered around North Dakota on Monday, the second anniversary of Greywind's death, to urge Congress to pass the bill.
Hoehn denied knowing anything about Crews' plan to kill Greywind and take her baby, but he admitted to hiding the newborn and giving false information to law enforcement to cover up the crime.
Crews testified during Hoehn's trial that she concocted a phony pregnancy because she was afraid of losing him, and that when he figured out she was lying, he told her she needed to produce a baby. Crews said she took that as an ultimatum.
Crews said she never explicitly told Hoehn what she planned to do, but that when he arrived home to find a newborn and a bleeding Greywind, he twisted a rope around Greywind's neck to make sure she was dead. A coroner was unable to determine if the cause of death was strangulation or blood loss.
An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that Hoehn pleaded guilty to the kidnapping conspiracy charge and wasn't convicted of it by a jury.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining.
The resolution calls on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that included the U.S. and Russia, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, but that the country's veto raises the question of what the government may be hiding.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday on a resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia.
The resolution calls on all countries not to develop or deploy weapons of mass destruction, like nuclear arms, in space.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a council meeting on March 18 where she announced the resolution that “any placement of nuclear weapons into orbit around the Earth would be unprecedented, dangerous and unacceptable.”
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, retorted that Moscow’s initial impression was that the resolution is “yet another propaganda stunt by Washington” and is “very politicized” and “divorced from reality.”
The announcement of the resolution followed White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the United States.
The draft resolution says “the prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security.”
It urges all countries carrying out activities in exploring and using outer space to comply with international law and the U.N. Charter.
The draft “affirms” that countries that ratified the 1967 Outer Space Treaty must comply with their obligations not to put in orbit around the Earth “any objects” with weapons of mass destruction, or install them “on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space.”
The treaty, ratified by some 114 countries including the United States and Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.”
The draft resolution emphasizes “the necessity of further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, with appropriate and effective provisions for verification, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects.”
It reiterates that the U.N. Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, has the primary responsibility to negotiate agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space.
The 65-nation body has achieved few results and has largely devolved into a venue for countries to voice criticism of others’ weapons programs or defend their own. The draft resolution urges the conference “to adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive program of work.”
At the March council meeting where the U.S.-Japan initiative was launched, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “geopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.”
He said the movie “Oppenheimer” about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the U.S. project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.”
“Humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,” the U.N. chief said.
FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)
